Backwards Parallel
by adele4
Summary: Bakura Ryou begins his journey with a magical ring; Yuugi begins his with a broken puzzle.


_Notes: manga-based; in the original version posted on lj, Yuugi and Bakura's POVs were colour-coded, so I hope it's still understandable without that. ;)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own yuugiou, I don't own the characters, I just borrow them for fun and make no profit with it._

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Backwards Parallel

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There is no object more perfect than a ring.

x

There is no other form as complete in itself: it can be circled smoothly on the outside and on the inside. No sharp edges or angles, no beginning and ending.

x

He's naive and childish and inexperienced.

His parents are rarely home; his grandfather raises him, and he's less strict than a parent would have been. He lets him play and daydream and take all the toys from the shop he wants.

When he first comes to school, and first experiences bullying, he's shocked and defenceless before this unexpected unkindness he can't understand, and without Anzu to help him, he'd be lost.

When it gets really bad, he works on his puzzle; slowly, piece by piece, it grows.

x

He's wise beyond his years; he has lost two of the people he cared for the most when he was very young; he has learned to cope and to take care of himself.

He has moved twice already, and gone to Egypt, and he has read a lot.

He's fascinated with the supernatural since ever; he knows all one can find about stories about ghosts and possession and thoughts that don't seem to be your own in your mind, and silent calls and golden glows when there is no light to be reflected.

When he first feels the sting of his mind being pushed aside from his own body, he doesn't flinch and doesn't close his eyes. When he first sees him, a transparent image invisible to anyone else, he smiles.

x

He knows it's supposed to be a puzzle, and he trusts his grandpa too much not to believe it – but he can't help thinking that is looks like a couple of gold pieces of various forms, that look similar but have no other connection.

But he religiously keeps the present safe, somewhere under his other precious possessions, like his games and stuffed animals. He's still a child: he doesn't question the impression of feeling better whenever he plays with it.

He'll always remember the day on which he managed, for the first time, to get two pieces to fit together, nor the immense excitement and accomplishment: maybe, it was leading somewhere.

x

He knows that the ring is dangerous and powerful, and that he shouldn't trust its spirit when it assures him that there will be no repercussion if he takes it back. It lays in his hands, glowing, jingling, complete and powerful, as if possessing a life on its own, and so obviously full of the magic he's always believed to be longing for, and he knows he should never touch it again...

But he religiously keeps the present safe, returns himself to it in when it demands it in duellist kingdom, searches for it on the battle city ship. He doesn't know he's slowly losing his own mind: he doesn't question the impression of feeling incomplete whenever he doesn't hold it close.

He has forgotten the day on which, for the first time, he has met the spirit, defied and defeated it, as well as the immense relief and accomplishment: he has forgotten that it might have been leading somewhere.

x

He has become wise; he has understood the need for those from the past to move on. He has lost a friend close to his heart in a way no other can ever be

He has fought monsters, and gods and villains, and seen the world and unlocked and mastered the mysteries of a magical battle.

x

His knowledge, his experience, his actions and conclusions have been torn into pieces softly, through all the dark holes that have replaced what was his mind and his memory. He stands, awake and hopeful, naive and childish, looking up to the raising sun. He knows nothing of the world.

x

There is no other form that feels more complete, after all the work it took to put it together to reveal its true form, a reversed pyramid.

x

There is no object more perfect than a completed puzzle.

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End file.
